The government is planning to allocate a land plot spanning an area of 15 mn square metres for industrial purposes in 13 governorates this year with the aim of boosting the industrial sector, Invest-Gate reports.

In a released statement, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said that it is currently working on upgrading its system in order to ease measures for industrial developers and investors as well as encourage their investments in the country.

Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Qabil said that the ministry received offers from investors to carry out 12 industrial projects worth  EGP 13 bn, highlighting that 80% of the offers were from foreign investors. The offers were mainly seeking industrial investments in the fields of appliances, textiles and weaving, dying, and metal industries.

The first stage of the ministry’s initiative to boost the country’s industrial sector will start in seven governorates in Upper Egypt, to be followed by coastal cities in the second stage. The initiative is expected to provide 1,250 investment opportunities in those areas.

The Egyptian government has recently been working tooth and nail to attract more foreign and local businesspeople to pump additional investments into different industrial sectors nationwide, especially in the long-neglected Upper Egyptian governorates.